by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

If you thought the divide between Coke-endorsed drivers Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin/Tony Stewart would never be crossed, Coke aired a commercial Sunday showing how its product can make everything OK again.

In an alternate version of its "Coca-Cola Racing Family Road Trip" ad that begain airing at the start of the season, Coke drivers Logano, Stewart, Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle are driving in their mini-van while an announcer reads "the highlights from the race at Fontana."

As the announcer says "things got a little heated between two of the top drivers" -- a reference to the fight between Logano and Stewart on pit road at Auto Club Speedway -- Newman suddenly shuts off the video player. Stewart rolls his eyes.

"This is going to be a long trip," Patrick says.

But just when you thought the mini-van atmosphere couldn't get more tense, Logano breaks the ice.

"Denny, want a Coke?" he says to the driver he's currently feuding with, after a wreck at the speedway left Hamlin with a broken vertebrae.

Stewart passes out the Cokes, and suddenly everyone is smiling and singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain."

In the YouTube description for the commercial, Coke says the spot shows "how the family comes together again over something we all can agree on -- an ice cold Coca-Cola."

Obviously, the ad was compiled from unused footage during the pre-season shoot; Logano probably isn't going to be having a beverage of any kind with Hamlin or Stewart for quite some time.

But you have to hand it to Coke for two reasons: First, someone was smart enough to edit the leftover footage into the new ad; second, Coke was bold enough to address the controversy instead of shying from it like many other corporate sponsors would.